A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review:A Kind of Home (A Kind of Stories #4) by Lane Hayes

Standard

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Isaac is the only member of the band Spiral who doesn’t have a life partner, but Lane Hayes remedies that with this story. Isaac left home as a teen when his parents broke up and his (adoptive) father kicked him out for being gay. He was so done with Springville, his small PA hometown, and the only thing good he could say about it was the fun he had with his friend Ned McBride, Ned’s family, and Ned’s brother Adam. Though Adam was straight, Isaac always had a crush on the brawny football player with a sense of humor and a gorgeous smile.

When he returns home to his Manhattan penthouse after the latest worldwide tour of his phenomenally successful band, he’s surprised to find Adam McBride is there. Through Ned, he had given permission for Adam to crash at his place while Adam was recovering from his divorce and deciding what direction his life should take. Unfortunately, he worked for his ex-wife’s father so he lost the job along with the marriage and is currently working part-time at a bar and part-time as a dog walker. And he has no plans to leave soon.

Isaac has loved his sterile white apartment, its peace and quiet and solitude, but he grows accustomed to the happy-go-lucky Adam being there, leaving his big red Converse sneakers laying around, cooking meals for Isaac, and practicing his baking—something Adam took up as a relaxing hobby and now wants to pursue as a career. Much of the chaos keeps Isaac from worrying about the nutcase who seems to be stalking him—someone who refers to himself as his “biggest fan.” But the companionship turns to more after one night when the guys get a little tipsy and the inhibitions come down. Isaac learns that Adam is not as straight as he thought, and he learns exactly why Adam came to New York—and it wasn’t just to chill out after his divorce.

The men slowly, very slowly (something I love!) develop a relationship that goes beyond friends-with-benefits and becomes so much more. And when danger strikes, and Isaac’s emotions come to a head, it looks like the one-time loner may just be left alone after all.

I enjoyed Lane Hayes’s writing in this one, her character development, and the clever mystery about the psycho fan. I also loved the love story and the evolution of the friends to lovers theme.

I hope readers will enjoy this slow-burn romance as much as I did. The author’s reveal of the carefully hidden psycho and the oh-so-sweet ending of the book is sure to please lovers of MM romance as much as it did me. I recommend not only this book, but the whole series as well.

Cover art by Aaron Anderson is similar in style to others in the series, but in this one, a bare-torso male is leaning against the wall of what appears to be a penthouse apartment, as it features a floor-to-ceiling window with a view of the city spread out below. This fits the story perfectly since it could be Isaac looking out over NYC from his Manhattan penthouse.